1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid container for holding a liquid to be supplied to a liquid-consuming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid-ejecting apparatus provided with an ejecting head that ejects a liquid is a representative conventional liquid-consuming apparatus. An ink-jet recording apparatus provided with an ink-jet recording head for recording images is a typical example of the liquid-ejecting apparatus. Other examples of the liquid-ejecting apparatus are an apparatus provided with a coloring matter ejecting head for fabricating color filters for liquid crystal displays, an apparatus provided with an electrode forming material (conductive paste) ejecting head for forming electrodes for organic EL displays and field emission displays (FEDs), an apparatus provided with a bioorganic material ejecting head for manufacturing biochips, and an apparatus provided with a sample ejecting head as a precision pipette.
The ink-jet recording apparatus, which is a representative liquid-ejecting apparatus, is used prevalently nowadays for printing operations including color printing operations, because the ink-jet recording apparatus generates comparatively low noise during a printing operation and is capable of forming small dots in a high dot density.
A liquid supply system for supplying a liquid to the liquid-consuming apparatus represented by the ink-jet recording apparatus supplies the liquid from a liquid container holding the liquid to the liquid-consuming apparatus. Generally, the liquid container used by the liquid supply system is a cartridge capable of detachably attached to the liquid-consuming apparatus to facilitate the user's works for replacing the liquid container with a new one when the liquid contained in the liquid container is exhausted.
Generally, the ink-jet recording apparatus is provided with a carriage carrying a recording head that ejects ink drops, and is capable of reciprocating along the recording surface of a recording medium. An ink supply system for supplying ink from an ink cartridge to a recording head mounts the ink cartridge on a carriage and supplies the ink from the ink cartridge to a recording head while the ink cartridge is reciprocated together with the recording head. Another ink supply system mounts an ink cartridge on the case or the like of the body of an apparatus, and carries ink from the ink cartridge to a recording head by a flexible tube or the like forming an ink passage.
In some conventional ink cartridges, an ink pack having a flexible pouch containing ink therein is accommodated in a container body formed of a rigid material. There are various kinds of flexible pouches. A flexible pouch of one type is formed by merely attaching two film members to each other at peripheries thereof, while a flexible pouch of another type is formed by using an additional pair of film members extending along the thickness direction of the ink pack to form four side surfaces of the flexible pouch. The ink pack of the latter type, which is a so-called gazette-type ink pack, is suitable for containing an increased quantity of the ink.
As the ink contained in the gazette-type ink pack is consumed, the film members extending along the thickness direction of the flexible pouch bend. When the film member bends to project outward, problems occur in that a resistance against the bending of the film member increases, and a quantity of the ink, which is unused and remains in the ink pack, will increase.
JP-A 60-217159 (Patent document 1) proposes a restricting frame to be fitted in a fold formed in a side surface of an ink containing pouch.
However, in the constitution disclosed in Patent document 1, the restricting frame is brought into linear contact with the fold of the ink containing pouch along a folding line of the fold. Thus, in applying the constitution described in Patent document 1 to an ink cartridge which discharges ink by compressing an ink containing pouch, when the ink containing pouch is pressed, the restricting frame in linear contact with the fold formed in the side surface of the ink containing pouch presses the fold along the folding line thereof. Since impulsive forces are applied intensively to the folding line of the side surface of the ink containing pouch, the ink containing pouch may be broken along the folding line.
Further, the constitution described in Patent document 1 has another disadvantage in that, since a restricting part is movably disposed in a container body, the restricting frame cannot serve as a securing means for securely holding the ink containing pouch in place in the container body.